After purchasing one of the best handheld gaming PCs on the market, powered by some of the top processors, it’s easy to realize that there is only so much that can be done to elevate gaming performance on a small portable.
One of those powerful handhelds, the Lenovo Legion Go S, has been a breath of fresh air for me. This device has met almost all of my portable gaming wishes with its immersive 8-inch display, and, of course, the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor.
My experience with the Legion Go S came after using the Asus ROG Ally with the same AMD chip, and the push up to 32GB of RAM in the Lenovo model did more for performance than I anticipated. However, this still doesn’t represent the best performance you can find on a handheld gaming PC. Not when we’ve seen the likes of the GPD Win 5 using the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 CPU, which replicates gaming laptop levels of performance, and is the current ceiling for these portable devices.
That is until I noticed that external GPU (eGPU) docks can take matters a step further – the case in point being the Razer Core X V2 (revealed back in July 2025), which is suitable for Nvidia‘s GeForce RTX and AMD’s Radeon GPUs (including the newest RTX 5000 and Radeon RX 9000 models).
Given that my former main graphics card, an Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti, is currently shelved, I could spur it back into action with this eGPU dock – and some new benchmarking has indicated this is an impressive solution for supercharging a handheld.
Razer Core X V2 dock in action with MSI Claw A8
While I’m not using an MSI Claw A8, a YouTube video that just popped up from ETA Prime shows this Razer eGPU in action with that handheld – and it gives me a good idea of how the Core X V2 dock should perform with my Lenovo Legion Go S. Although admittedly I’d be looking at using a much lesser Nvidia GPU than the RTX 5090 which is shown off by the YouTuber.
As you can see in the video below, the Razer eGPU packing the RTX 5090 allows Cyberpunk 2077 to run on ‘ultra’ graphics settings at 1440p resolution with no DLSS, and maintain a frame rate above 70fps.
While that might not sound impressive exactly, since it’s an RTX 5090, it’s worth noting that performance is limited as the Claw A8 doesn’t have Thunderbolt 5 ports, and is instead using USB 4 connectors, so bandwidth and speeds are slowed as a result.
This setup is also running at native 1440p, which isn’t exactly a super-easy task in a game as demanding as Cyberpunk 2077 – and the processor’s bottleneck also has an impact on performance, holding back the frame rate. So, given those three negative headwinds, and the lack of DLSS here, this performance level is still pretty impressive in my eyes.
Of course, my old RTX 3080 Ti is not going to perform like Nvidia’s current flagship GPU – although pairing a handheld with an RTX 5090 is overkill, to say the least.
The results bode well, though, and if, like me, you have a spare GPU lying around, and all you need is an eGPU dock and a cable that plugs into the handheld (just the same as if using a charger) to use it – then this setup could be truly tempting.
It’s a simple plug-and-play solution, and I’m almost always using my handheld devices while plugged into a power outlet anyway – so with this eGPU dock, I’d get the benefit of a huge performance boost.
There are also alternatives to this dock, of course, like the Aoostar AG02, which comes with a built-in 800W power supply – a notable drawback of the Razer eGPU is that it doesn’t have an integrated PSU (you need one to power the graphics card). However, the Aoostar lacks an enclosure, and I’d rather not leave my GPU exposed to potential hazards – no doubt many of you will share that same sentiment.
The Razer Core X V2 doesn’t come with a power supply, and it’s quite costly
So, as noted, the Razer Core X V2 doesn’t come with a power supply – though fortunately for me, I also have a spare Corsair 750W power supply lying around (so much spare hardware, I know). So all I’d need to buy is the eGPU dock itself, but that won’t be the case for many other people.
Never mind the power supply, not everyone has a spare GPU available to use either, and buying one just for a dock setup like this doesn’t make much sense.
Nvidia or AMD GPUs are expensive, and adding a power supply to the bill, and then including the cost of the dock itself, which is priced at $349 / £329 / AU$599 – well, it all mounts up very quickly (especially if you’re buying the handheld, too).
The expense is going to be an instant deal-breaker for many people, and ultimately will leave this as a niche product. I’m just lucky enough to have the complementary hardware ready for the Razer Core X V2 dock, but regardless, the price still leaves something of a bitter taste considering the alternatives available.
I mentioned the Aoostar AG02 alternative and how I’m opposed to leaving my hardware exposed with no enclosure, but this solution is still worth considering if it means I can save my spare power supply for a new desktop PC build. All in all, I’m still willing to give Razer’s enclosure a shot.
You might also like…
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/6pK5peyGLmPjN4qBsY8Yjm-1244-80.jpg
Source link
